Arizona's improving bankruptcy trend remained intact in July, although other recent statistics suggest that many families around the state continue to struggle.

The 1,305 filings last month in the Phoenix metro area were down nearly 14 percent from 1,510 in July 2013, representing the 42nd consecutive month of year-over-year improvement. For all of Arizona, bankruptcies slipped 11 percent in July to 1,764 from 1,981 in July last year.

The same trend is evident across the nation, with filings down 12 percent in July, according to Epiq Systems and the American Bankruptcy Institute.

The filing pace is returning to pre-recession levels. "Bankruptcy filings for this year will likely fall below 1 million for the first time since 2007," predicted Samuel Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute, in a statement.

But the general improvement trend doesn't necessarily mean consumers are feeling much more prosperous. Some people likely are discouraged from pursuing bankruptcy because they lack the funds to pay for attorney fees and court costs. Gerdano cited "high filing costs" as an impediment.

Various other economic numbers released lately portray many Arizonans as still struggling.

For example, credit bureau Experian recently reported that Arizona had the second-highest auto-repossession rate in the country, behind only Nevada, while an Urban Institute study indicated that 39 percent of Arizona households have debts that have been reported to collection agencies. That's 4 percentage points higher than the national average for collections